Newbie help

[tcfritz]

Thanks, FordGuy61.
Would or could the Blade series be considered a collection? How would you suggest I get them to display all three next to one another? See screen shot of how they display now.
Thanks!
TCF

[FordGuy61]

@tcfritz

How would you suggest I get them to display all three next to one another?

Edit each movie and change the Sort Title so they appear in the desired order. You can use the year, the order of the movie in the franchise, etc.

Examples:
Blade 1998, Blade 2002, Blade 2004
Blade 1, Blade 2, Blade 3

Lock in the changes (click the lock, it will change to orange), then save changes.

You can use decimals to help as well. For example, with the Star Wars franchise:

Episode III = Star Wars 3
Solo = Star Wars 3.1
Rogue One = Star Wars 3.2
Episode IV = Star Wars 4

@tcfritz

Would or could the Blade series be considered a collection?

Plex Docs → Working with Your Media → Collections

A Collection is whatever you want it to be - Blade movies, Wesley Snipes movies, movies that begin with B, etc.

To put the movies in a Collection, edit the Movie, select Tags, then enter the desired collection name in the Collections field. Lock it in changes and save changes.

You can also create smart collections, which match the desired criteria (genre, year, etc). Any movies that match the criteria will automatically be added to the collection. See the support documents.

[tcfritz]

Thank you, FordGuy61.
When you say to edit the titles, is that with a metatag editor or can that be done within the Plex management console? I assume the former?
Thanks again!
TCF

[FordGuy61]

I was referring to editing the show in Plex.

Plex can read embedded metadata from mp4/m4v files, so you might be able to set the Sort Name field in the file and have Plex read it. I’ve never tried that, so do not know if it will work.

[tcfritz]

Hi, Guys. My collection is really starting to take shape and look the way I want it. More questions:

1. What do I do with movies with multiple discs and therefore multiple files? Examples include:
   a. “Arn - The Knight Templar (2007)” - disc 1 - episodes 1-4; disc 2 - episodes 5-6
   b. “Beavis and Butt-Head - The Mike Judge Collection - Volume 1 (1993)” - 3 disc set
2. Similarly, what do I do with movies that have multiple versions, such as an alternate ending or maybe a SD vs. HD version?

Thanks!
TCF

[FordGuy61]

@tcfritz

What do I do with movies with multiple discs and therefore multiple files? Examples include:
a. “Arn - The Knight Templar (2007)” - disc 1 - episodes 1-4; disc 2 - episodes 5-6
b. “Beavis and Butt-Head - The Mike Judge Collection - Volume 1 (1993)” - 3 disc set

Plex Documentation → Your Media → Naming & Organizing Your TV Show Files

Those are TV Shows. They go in a TV show library. You cannot mix movies and TV shows in the same library.

See the support documents. Follow Plex’s naming convention. Plex is picky with TV show naming and organization.

FYI regarding Arn:
Arn: The Knight Templar (2007) is a movie (IMDB). It belongs in a movie library.
Arn: The Knight Templar (2010) is a six episode TV mini-series (TVDB). As such, it belongs in a TV Show library.

@tcfritz

Similarly, what do I do with movies that have multiple versions, such as an alternate ending or maybe a SD vs. HD version?

Plex does not handle such situations well. People have different approaches.

Mine:

1. 4K media are in separate libraries, “Movies - 4K”, etc., and are not shared with friends/family. I do not have the upstream bandwidth to direct play 4K media and do not want the transcode load on my system (my server’s CPU struggles with burning subtitles when transcoding 4K media). Also, Plex transcodes HDR media to SDR, so I’d rather just keep a HD version in my “Movies” library that I share with others.

2. If I acquire an HD version of a movie/show, I remove the SD version from my system. My server can handle transcoding HD media. Also, to me, a 1080p Blu-ray rip transcoded to 10 Mbps looks better than direct playing a 480p DVD rip (I limit remote streams to 10 Mbps).

3. For different cuts/version/etc, I keep them in separate directories. Plex usually combines them together when I initially add them to the system. I split them apart, then modify the name in Plex.

Example: Apocalypse Now. There is no separate IMDB entry for the Redux version.

/movies/Apocalypse Now (1979)/Apocalypse Now (1979).mkv
/movies/Apocalypse Now Redux (2001)/Apocalypse Now Redux (2001).mkv

[kamhouse]

@tcfritz

Similarly, what do I do with movies that have multiple versions, such as an alternate ending or maybe a SD vs. HD version?

Plex uses the term “version” for the same exact movie, but at different resolutions.

Star Wars (1977) - 1080p.mkv
Star Wars (1977) - 480p.mkv

You can have Plex pre-render different versions of a movie for various resolutions and bitrates if you have the space.

Plex doesn’t have a concept of different cuts yet (hopefully that will change). The work around for alternate endings and directors cuts is to split the movie apart and manually name the two entries to reflect the difference.

For example I have the Holiday Inn and It’s a Wonderful Life movies in black and white and colorized. So I have this in my movies library:

Movies > Holiday Inn (1942) > Holiday Inn (1942) - BW.mkv
Movies > Holiday Inn (1942) > Holiday Inn (1942) - colorized.mkv

Movies > It's a Wonderful Life (1946) > It's a Wonderful Life (1942) - BW.mkv
Movies > It's a Wonderful Life (1946) > It's a Wonderful Life (1942) - colorized.mkv

In Plex I split them apart and gave them different posters and modified the title slightly.

After a split they look identical, but you can see which movie is which by looking at the movie’s info page.

The downside to a split movie is that Plex uses the same watch progress for the whole group.

One thing to keep in mind. The folder name is what Plex uses to match the movie first. If you have a folder called Star Wars (1977) and put files named truck.mp4 and car.mp4 in the folder, Plex will think both files are copies of the same Star Wars movie. The only files inside that Plex doesn’t consider the movie are the tagged extra content files with the -featurette tag and similar tags.

Second, if Plex can’t match the folder name to a movie, then it will look for a match with the file name. So if you have a folder called Hallmark Movies and then put a dozen movies inside like:

Movies > HALLMARK MOVIES > Sand Dollar Cove (2021).mkv
Movies > HALLMARK MOVIES > South Beach Love (2021).mkv
Movies > HALLMARK MOVIES > Sweet Pecan Summer (2021).mkv
etc.

Plex will usually mess up the first scan, but after a manual fix-match it does well at finding any new movies you add to the same folder. I don’t know what kind of voodoo they are using to differentiate between the two kind of folders.

Plex officially recommends one movie per folder, but this does seem to work with Hallmark movies.

[tcfritz]

Wow. Thanks, guys. This is both amazing and overwhelming. I’m struggling to digest and comprehend this all.

1. I also have the color and BW version of “It’s a Wonderful Like,” so that was a perfect example… Also, you made me realize, why would I keep an SD version of a movie if I have a higher resolution.

2. What do you call the “tags” within the movie name (e.g. " - BW," " - colorized," " - 1080p," etc. and where do I find a list of those “tags”?

3. FordGuy61, good call on Arn and Beavis and Butthead.

4. Do you guys use the art/posters from Plex, scan your own or use another source? I’m pretty ■■■■ about most things and prefer to have the EXACT art that is on the cover of the media that I purchased.

5. I’ve made a lot of custom modifications to a lot of movies. How do I back up my data to make sure I have a copy of all these changes?

Thanks again–I really appreciate all your help!

TCF

[FordGuy61]

@tcfritz

Do you guys use the art/posters from Plex, scan your own or use another source? I’m pretty ■■■■ about most things and prefer to have the EXACT art that is on the cover of the media that I purchased.

I’m not that picky, so I use the cover art in the Plex app.

You can add your cover art to the folder where the media resides. See the Local Media Assets - Movies and - TV Shows in the Your Media section of the documentation.

You can also upload the desired cover art into the Plex database. Edit the movie/show/season/episode and choose the Poster tab. The artwork is stored in the Plex Data Folder, not in the same folder as the media.

Note: Once uploaded, it will be difficult to retrieve/delete any artwork from the Plex Data Folder. Its structure is tied to the Plex database, and is not organized like your media files i.e. there is no folder named “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Beavis and Butt-Head.”

@tcfritz

I’ve made a lot of custom modifications to a lot of movies. How do I back up my data to make sure I have a copy of all these changes?

Make a backup of the Plex Data Folder. Plex Media Server should be stopped, so the database files will be closed.

Also, in Settings → Scheduled Tasks, check the box for Backup database every three days.

[tcfritz]

1. “Godfather 2” or “Godfather II,” or doesn’t it matter with regards to file naming?
2. My Godfather 2 is spread across 2 files. How do I handle this?
3. Even though I’ve done a lot of customizing in Plex, I’ve also done a lot of renaming and reorganization of my file names and folder structure. I think I want to blow away what’s in Plex and start over. Good idea or bad? Regardless, what’s the best approach and how would I go about doing that?
   Thanks!
   TCF

[SE56]

As for split Movie Files.

The following is another Method with some Caveats

[HowTo]: joining multi-part movies files with MKVtoolnix GUI

The purpose of this HowTo is to join videofiles, when a movie was ripped and split into two or more files. (This happens usually with very long movies [i.e. LOTR] or more often back in the day when we had Video CD or DIVX CDs) The ultimate goal is to have the movie back in one file, so there is no trouble in the various Plex clients which do not support multi-part files. The tool used is MKVtoolnixGUI it is freely available for all major PC operating systems. Therefore the container format …

As for Nuking your Plex and starting a fresh, I would consider your Plex journey so far a huge learning curve. Will there still be mistakes. YES. So I believe let the dust settle, read a lot of Support Articles from forum and follow a lot of discussions with Notifications that interest you. Then when you feel confident that all your content is accurate and your clients are playing nice, why not build a Fresh Database.

Enjoy your Plex Journey

[tcfritz]

Thanks, SE56.

I’ve been working on my collection all day and almost have it the way I want it. Changing file names and structure did not hose my collection in Plex, so I’m not going to start over, as SE56 recommended.

I’m really struggling with movies that have different version. Some work and some don’t, but I cannot figure out why. it’s driving me crazy. For example, I’ve been able to make multiple version appear for “16 Blocks,” “Robin Hood” and “Weird Science.”

However, I cannot get both versions of “It’s a Wonderful Life” (color and BW) to show up in plex as well as a handful of others. Any suggestions? I’ve tried naming the variations differently, moving them into different folders, etc., but it works inconsistently.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

TCF

[FordGuy61]

PMS 1.26.1.5772, using Plex Movie scanner & agent.

@tcfritz

I cannot get both versions of “It’s a Wonderful Life” (color and BW) to show up in plex

Each version in separate folders:

.../test-movies/Its a Wonderful Life (1946) [bw]/Its a Wonderful Life (1946) [bw].mkv
.../test-movies/Its a Wonderful Life (1946) [color]/Its a Wonderful Life (1946) [color].mkv

Add both to the server, Plex combines them as duplicates:

Split them apart:

Result after split, two movies with same name:

Edit one of the movies (pencil icon, lower left corner), look at Info tab to determine version:

Go to General tab, edit Title to reflect version, Save Changes:

Repeat for color version.

Result after changing both movies: